News for May 12, 2006

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What more can you say? Water for Fuel (May 11, 2006) - You’ve got to see this video! Our worlds could change real quick with this technology. Especially with gas prices as they are and foreign interests owning us through their crude.

Iran letter precursor to War? (May 11, 2006) - Some Middle East observers believe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s letter to President Bush could be a precursor to war, based on a traditional Muslim pattern of offering acceptance of Islam before establishing it by force. Robert Spencer, editor of Jihad Watch, says Ahmadinejad appears to be following the teachings of Muhammad, who gave specific instructions to followers as they engage in “holy war” against “those who disbelieve in Allah.” In a Hadith, regarded by Muslims as sacred writings about Muhammad, the Islamic prophet says a series of offers should be made to “enemies” to embrace Islam, or at least accept Islamic rule, and if they are rejected, “seek Allah’s help and fight them.” In his letter, Ahmadinejad argues only Islam can “overcome the present problems of the world” and asks Bush, “Will you not accept this invitation? That is, a genuine return to the teachings of prophets, to monotheism and justice, to preserve human dignity and obedience to the Almighty and His prophets? Mr President, History tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive.” Another observer of Islam, journalist Stephen Adams, said the letter seems to parallel a missive from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to Americans prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Interviewed on the Michael Medved radio show yesterday, Adams noted bin Laden stated his grievances against the United States and gave Americans the opportunity to “repent.” Based on precedent, Adams continued, he expects the next step will be for Iran to make the invitation public. Then the “crimes” of the U.S. will be published and the grievances will be cited at Friday prayers in mosques. Finally, comes a fatwa, amounting to a declaration of war. Adams, associate editor of Citizen magazine, said it’s possible this scenario could unfold in a matter of weeks. In a column for WorldNetDaily, Middle East analyst Laura Mansfield said she believes the letter could be a “last warning.” Mansfield says the question must be asked: “Why deliver such a letter when there is little chance it will result in policy changes for either country?” Like Spencer and Adams, she points out: “Islamic theology documents that no attack can be carried out in jihad without first offering the 'unbelievers' the opportunity to 'repent' and accept Islam. Only when that overture is rejected can an attack occur.” The Iranian president has made clear, at least to audiences at home, Tehran’s ultimate intentions. As WorldNetDaily reported in January, Ahmadinejad told a crowd of theological students in Iran’s holy city of Qom that Islam must prepare to rule the world. “We must believe in the fact that Islam is not confined to geographical borders, ethnic groups and nations. It’s a universal ideology that leads the world to justice,” Ahmadinejad said Jan. 5, according to Mehran Riazaty, a former Iran analyst for the Central Command of the Coalition Forces in Baghdad.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discounted the rambling 18 page letter saying, “The first read of it: there is nothing in this letter that in any way addresses any of the issues, really, that are on the table in the international community, the nuclear program, in a straightforward way; the terrorism issues.” Rice, in an interview with Associated Press, went on to characterize the letter as “broadly philosophical” and said that “there’s nothing in here that would suggest that we’re on any different course than we were before we got the letter.”
| Iran | Islam |

Gadhafi: Islam taking over Europe - All people must be Muslims (May 10, 2006) - Islam will take over Europe without violent force within a few decades, said Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi in a speech aired on the Arab satellite network Al Jazeera. “We have 50 million Muslims in Europe,” Gadhafi said. “There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe – without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.” If Turkey is added to the European Union, the Libyan leader said, Europe will have another 50 million Muslims. Albania, a Muslim-majority country, and Bosnia, which is half Muslim, also appear to be on their way to EU membership. “Europe is in a predicament, and so is America,” Gadhafi said. “They should agree to become Islamic in the course of time, or else declare war on the Muslims.” Excerpts of Gadhafi’s speech, broadcast, were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI. Gadhafi emphasized Muslims view Muhammad the prophet not only of the Arabs or Muslims but “of all people.” “He superseded all previous religions,” Gadhafi said. “If Jesus were alive when Muhammad was sent, he would have followed him. All people must be Muslims.” He said Christians believe Muhammad is not their prophet because their holy texts “are forged and call for hatred.” “The so-called Old Testament and New Testament are neither Old Testament nor New Testament – because both testaments were superseded, and they are forged,” he said. “They were written by hand hundreds of years after Jesus.” Gadhafi continued: “In the Bible there are things that are inappropriate for both Jesus and Moses. If we want to mend the state of humanity, and live in a global village, because of the globalization, we must search for the true Bible, because the Bible that exists today is a forgery. Today’s Bible does not mention Muhammad, whereas our Lord's Bible mentions Muhammad repeatedly.” Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin reported in December 2003 Gadhafi provided al-Qaida with chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction before changing heart and agreeing to destroy his arms program.
| Islam |

CBN.com Launches Special Site and Materials Confronting Errors in The Da Vinci Code (May 9, 2006) - As Christians worldwide brace themselves for the release of the error-ridden movie, The Da Vinci Code, touted to be a blockbuster, many Believers are making ready to counter the heretical claims, by delving deeper into their faith and familiarizing themselves with why they believe as they do. That’s a positive thing, of course, and biblical. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “…sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to give an account of the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” To aid in this process, CBN.com has established a new section of their website to deal exclusively with The Da Vinci Code. more...

Greek gods prepare for a comeback (May 5, 2006) - It has taken almost 2,000 years, but those who worship the 12 gods of ancient Greece have finally triumphed. An Athens court has ordered that the adulation of Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and co is to be unbanned, paving the way for a comeback of pagans on Mount Olympus. The followers, who say they “defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos” of the ancients by adhering to a pre-Christian polytheistic culture, are poised to take their battle to the temples of Greece. “What we want, now, is for the government to fully recognise our religion,” Vasillis Tsantilas told the Guardian. “We will petition the Greek parliament, and the EU if that fails, for access to worship in places like the Acropolis, for permission to have our own cemeteries and, where necessary, to re-bury the [ancient] bones of the dead. About 98% of Greeks are Orthodox Christian, and all other religions except Judaism and Islam had been banned. Yet the pagans say as many as 2,000 Greeks have signed up to their movement. Mr Tsantilas, 42, a computer scientist who came to paganism after toying with Buddhism, Taoism and Islam, said worshippers perceived the ancient gods as the “personification of the divine”. more...

Scientists warn of solar storm threat (May 4, 2006) - “The heavens assumed an almost blood red appearance, while here and there long streaks of light shot up from the horizon to the zenith,” The New York Herald reported after the solar storm of 1859. Scientists say in less than a decade, it will likely happen again on a more devastating scale. As the world scrambles to prepare for hurricanes and earthquakes of unprecedented strength, some scientists say the sun poses an equal threat, with predictions calling for a 2012 sun storm of immense proportions. If the idea of a solar storm sounds too much like the stuff of sci-fi, consider this: a single large solar flare has a million times more energy than the largest earthquake, according to Space.com. The vast space between the Earth and the Sun is filled with electrically-charged particles, radiation, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic energy that could play havoc with Earth in the event of elevated solar output. The last great solar super storm was 145 years ago. But, this event provides little context given our very recently-adopted dependence on satellite-based technologies. Last month, experts convened in Colorado during Space Weather Week (April 25-28) to discuss the issues surrounding the approaching 2012 event. If the storm turns out to be at the same scale as the one in 1859, economic disaster would ensue, with immediate costs around the $20 billion mark. more...
| Earth Changes |

Amid heightened threats from president Ahmadinejad, Tehran opens a back door into Israel for its penetration-cum-terror agents: Sudan to the Negev (May 11, 2006) - DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources reveal that two Iranian Revolutionary Guards companies were dropped at Khartoum’s military airfield May 2 by a C-130 transport and driven to a secret military installation on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital. Their arrival signals the onset of an Iranian military airlift to Sudan of a fully equipped RG brigade with armor, a major escalation of the clandestine Iranian threat to Egypt and Israel alike. DEBKAfile’s security sources report the ongoing routine of illicit Sudanese infiltrations into the southern Israeli Negev, shepherded by any of three local smuggling rings: the Palestinian gang headed by Jamal Samhadan, the Hamas government’s new appointee as commander of its security forces, Sudanese-Egyptian crime organizations and al Qaeda’s Sinai network. All three are readily available to operate under the orders of the Iranian RG intelligence officers posted in Sudan. The scale of the Negev traffic is such that hardly a day goes by without Sudanese infiltrators being caught attempting to steal across the Egyptian border into southern Israel. Many are job-seekers; a few, mules for gunrunners or spies collecting data on army installations in the desert region; some were caught recently near the town of Mitzpeh Ramon. They are led to their destinations by Egyptian intelligence agents familiar with the territory, Palestinian terrorists from Gaza or a sprinkling of Israeli Arabs. An Israeli security source told DEBKAfile that the current Egyptian-Israeli-Gazan border situation offers Iranian agents and terrorists mixed in among the Sudanese infiltrators an easy route into southern Israel. The RG agents are Arabic speakers, having acquired the language from their stint as military instructors with the Lebanese Hizballah.
| Iran | Israel |

Ahmadinejad calls Israel “a tyrannical regime based on evil” that will one day be destroyed (May 11, 2006) - Addressing a cheering crowd in Jakarta, the Iranian president said his country is willing to negotiate its nuclear program with Washington - after the US drops its “bad attitude.” He said America had more to lose from sanctions than Iran and stressed that every country had the right – not just the US – to use new technology for its energy needs.
| Iran | Israel |

Bureaucrats target ‘Cowboy Church’ (May 11, 2006) - A county in Virginia has cited a farmer there because he hosts Thursday night worship services in his barn on a 900-acre farm. According to a statement from Liberty Counsel, which is representing the man, Garland Simmons recently received a Notice of Violation from Bedford County stating that his barn cannot be used for religious services. Simmons’ 900-acre piece of property apparently isn’t zoned for such meetings. “Barns in Bedford County can apparently be used for dancing to the tunes of Toby Keith or Reba, but a church service reciting the Psalms of David or praise and worship with Casting Crowns are not allowed,” said Liberty Counsel’s Mathew Staver. “Bedford County is wrong to prohibit religious services in a barn in the middle of a field. Bedford County should immediately reverse its decision, because it is treading on unconstitutional ground.” The religious-liberties law group has sent a demand letter to county officials on behalf of Raymond Bell, the pastor of the Cowboy Church of Virginia, the organization that has been using the barn for several months. The letter asserts that Bedford County is violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the First Amendment. It requests the county immediately rescind the Notice of Violation or face a possible federal lawsuit. According to its website, the Cowboy Church’s motto is: “Where everybody is somebody and Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Town rejects National Day of Prayer banner (May 11, 2006) - Despite initial acceptance, a Michigan town rejected a street banner promoting the annual National Day of Prayer. An employee of the city of Ludington, Mich., took a $100 fee from the local National Day of Prayer organizers, but only a few days before the May 4 commemoration, the city refused to hang the banner, reported the Ludington Daily News. The group paid $350 for the sign, which was made after getting the city’s OK. In the wake of the controversy, Ludington has enacted a new policy making it clear any banner must specify an event rather than state a cause. The National Day of Prayer banner read “National Day of Prayer, first Thursday in May.” City councilors said the sign would have been allowed if it had included the word “rally” or something similar, or had more detail about where and when events would be held. The Mason County National Day of Prayer organizers, represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, argued the city “has created a limited public forum by allowing the display of banners of private persons and organizations for the purpose of advertising local events of benefit to the community.” City Attorney Roger Anderson disagreed, saying if it’s a public forum, “that'll be the end to banners.” The city, Anderson said, won’t discriminate which organizations can place signs, but instead set a policy that allows groups to promote events of general interest to the community.

NY warned to prepare for hurricanes (May 10, 2006) - A hurricane with only moderate intensity could wreak havoc in New York City because it has been years since the nation’s financial center faced severe weather, government forecasters warned on Tuesday. “The first time we get hit here with a Category 2, it’s going to be disastrous,” said meteorologist Michael Wyllie of the National Weather Service, referring to the scale used to rate hurricane strength. Wyllie said powerful storms have missed New York in recent years, unlike parts of the Gulf Coast, where periodic storms “thin out the trees and the buildings.” Gloria, the last big storm to hit the New York area, caused about $900 million in economic losses along the East Coast in 1985, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “It’s not like we can all run down to Home Depot and pick up these two-by-fours to board up windows,” said John Koch, lead forecaster at the NWS forecast office in New York. “What we want people to do is know what they are going to do with their family and their pets.” more...
| Earth Changes |

U.S. Government is tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols (I’m From The Government and I Am Here To Help You) (May 9, 2006) - While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen -- and telling the Mexican government where they are. According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants -- and if and when violence is used against border crossers. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants’ rights are being observed. “It’s not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be,” Mario Martinez said Monday. “This ... simply makes two basic statements -- that we will not allow any lawlessness of any type, and that if an alien is encountered by a Minuteman or arrested by the Minuteman, then we will allow that government to interview the person.” Minuteman members were not so sanguine about the arrangement, however, saying that reporting their location to Mexican officials nullifies their effectiveness along the border and could endanger their lives. “Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time,” said Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. “It’s unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country. They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels. more...

According to Bible Prophecy, Current-Day Aerial Phenomenon is Preliminary Activity that will Precede (May 9, 2006) - There are claims that a secret report on UFOs and aliens in space is a government cover up. A recently released secret report issued by the British ministry of defense concluded that there is insufficient evidence to indicate the presence of any genuine unidentified, aerial phenomenon, UFOs or aliens in outer space. There was an immediate response from a number of sources that have reported what they considered documented evidence of absolute extraterrestrial activities in space, that this secret British report is another report to cover up the truth about UFOs because they are afraid of admitting that there is something beyond their control. Even though the secret British report states there is no evidence of UFOs and aliens in our skies today, Bible prophecy does reveal that there is absolute evidence of present and future activity of such phenomenon. A confidential British Ministry of Defense report on Unidentified Flying Objects has concluded that there is no proof of alien-like forms. This report acknowledges that people who claim to have had a close encounter are often difficult to persuade that they did not see what they thought they saw. Whether this is or is not a government cover up of the truth of UFOs and aliens in our skies as some claim, I cannot determine. What I can say, however, is that Bible prophecy does reveal that there are aliens, and could well be UFOs in the heavens today and there will be much more in the future. Paul, the Apostle, wrote to the believers in Ephesus that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavens, that’s Ephesians 6:12 . Principalities, powers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness, are indeed evil angels, demons under the control of Satan in the heavens today. These creatures, aliens in the true sense of the word, will invade earth during the coming time of judgment known as the Tribulation, that's found in Revelation 9:1-18 and 12:7-17. According to Bible prophecy, current-day aerial phenomenon is preliminary activity that will precede the final fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
| UFO/Nephilim |

Cleric says Christians ‘adopted Satan as God’ (May 9, 2006) - Christians who support Israel are distorting their true faith, have adapted Satan as god and comprise the greatest danger to world peace, according to a senior Palestinian Authority cleric. The cleric, whose article on Christianity and Israel is posted on an official PA government website, also accuses Zionist Christians of persecuting Palestinians and directing the war in Iraq, and he calls for pro-Israeli Christian denominations to be expelled from the “world church.” “Very few people know the truth about this [Christian Zionist] movement, which unconditionally supports the Zionist enemy and unconditionally opposes Islam and the Muslims,” writes Hamed Al-Tamimi, director of inter-religious dialogue for the PA’s Judicial Council. The article, posted in Arabic, was translated by Palestinian Media Watch. Continues al-Tamimi: “The Zionist-Christian motivation, in addition to imperialist motivation, was behind the cursed Balfour Declaration – Balfour and Prime Minister Lloyd George were Christian Zionists … and the truth is we should not deny [that] these Crusader motivations stand [today] behind the British and American policy in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Arab and Muslim countries.” more...

Iran, Syria Using Land Disputes as Pretext for Arms? (May 12, 2006) - The Lebanese Hezbollah militia, backed by Syria and Iran, must stop using land disputes surrounding the Shebaa Farms as a pretext to continue arming itself and should cease bringing Israeli-Palestinian issues into play in the Lebanese arena, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said in an interview. “The question of the Shebaa Farms was invented by Syria and Iran using Hezbollah as a pretense to have an armed presence in Lebanon. This must end,” Jumblatt told WND. Jumblatt is the head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician. He said he supports dialogue with Syria and the international community to change the status of the Shebaa Farms from Syrian to Lebanese territory and to work toward an ultimate Israeli withdrawal from the land.

Global Threats: Iran and the Russia-China Anti-U.S. Entente (May 10, 2006) - Both Moscow and Beijing have announced their opposition to economic weaponry — with even more loud denunciations of any threat of force. The Russians have tried — as suppliers of nuclear technology to Iran — to worm their way out of a difficult position, proposing a “solution” [which Tehran has refused] of processing nuclear fuel in Russia in order to prohibit weapons grade uranium being produced under that subterfuge inside Iran. The Chinese have kept their heads down. But in the larger arena, Beijing and Moscow have tried to form the nucleus of an anti-US multi-polar alliance. It’s been reinforced with Russia’s highly profitable arms and oil sales to China. The two have even held minor joint military exercises. They theoretically cooperate in the so-called Shanghai group with some Central Asian states against Islamic terrorism. And, despite the old sores [and Beijing’s alliance with Pakistan] they occasionally try to bring India along for the ride. What happens at the UN — whether Moscow blinks or Beijing ducks — could be a test of that long-term Russian-Chinese effort to build a worldwide anti-American association. more...

Israel will hit Iran in the next few months: Israeli official (May 9, 2006) - Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next “month or two or three,” an Israeli official has been quoted here as saying. The unnamed official told Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor-in-chief of the United Press International (UPI), at the recently held national day reception at the Israeli Embassy that he believed Israel would strike Iran first in the next two or three months and that fighter bombers would not be involved as they had been to take out Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor before it went critical in 1981. For Osirak, Israel had used 14 F-15s and F-16s. This time, the Israeli said, it would be missiles. Asked if Israel would employ Cruise missiles, he replied, “with a gesture of his hand that went up and down again”, which meant that it would be the weapon of choice. Asked if tunnel entrances to widely scattered Iranian nuclear facilities would be targeted, he responded that Israel had its own geo-stationary spy-in-the-sky satellite taking constant pictures of Iran with a resolution down to 70 centimetres. “We know far more than anyone realises,” he added. more...
| Iran | Israel |

Another Former High-Ranking Iraqi Official Confirms WMD Went to Syria (May 11, 2006) - RM: Is it true the United States helped bring Saddam Hussein to power, as some allege, and then arm him with WMDs?

IT: This is absolutely ludicrous. I was in the Ba’athist Revolution who received support from the Soviet Union because of the socialist ideology behind it. The Soviet Union openly supported and backed the Ba’athist revolution in Iraq at the time and I am sure you can find news articles about it in European press agencies and others at the time. I was there helping with the revolution and worked on two occasions with Soviet KGB officials to help train us, much like the United States did with the Taliban during the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan. The United States never directly gave us any WMDs but rather ingredients. They were not mixed and these ‘ingredients’ could have been easily used for commercial use but were rather used to build low life chemical weapons.

RM: Why do you think Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction are in Syria? Why didn’t he use them or simply destroy them before the war?

IT: I know Saddam’s weapons are in Syria due to certain military deals that were made going as far back as the late 1980’s that dealt with the event that either capitols were threatened with being overrun by an enemy nation. Not to mention I have discussed this in-depth with various contacts of mine who have confirmed what I already knew. At this point Saddam knew that the United States were eventually going to come for his weapons and the United States wasn’t going to just let this go like they did in the original Gulf War. He knew that he had lied for this many years and wanted to maintain legitimacy with the pan Arab nationalists. He also has wanted since he took power to embarrass the West and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. After Saddam denied he had such weapons why would he use them or leave them readily available to be found? That would only legitimize President Bush, who he has a personal grudge against. What we are witnessing now is many who opposed the war to begin with are rallying around Saddam saying we overthrew a sovereign leader based on a lie about WMD. This is exactly what Saddam wanted and predicted. more...